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A Great Film, and one I would easily watch again!

Released in 2011, Crazy Stupid Love is a romantic-comedy starring Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling. Cal (Carell) is surprised by his wife's sudden desire for a divorce, which sends him into a downward spiral of drinking in nightclubs and talking loudly to anyone within earshot about his wife's infidelity with one of her co-workers. Jacob (Ryan Gosling) is a serial womaniser, who frequents the same bar that Cal visits and takes pity on the drunken rambler, offering to take him under his wing and mould him in his own image. The film takes off from there with the comical side-effects of a middle-aged man attempting to become a trendy, metrosexual womaniser.

I really enjoyed this film, as it was a romantic-comedy that didn't seem to favour one particular gender. Whilst the focus was mainly on the two male leads, there were some serious character moments with Julianne Moore and Emma Stone's characters too, ensuring that the film didn't devolve into some male-orientated sex comedy. It was a rather touching film about how love affects different people and the pros and cons of a stable relationship opposed to a string of one-night stands.

Steve Carell was reminiscent of his character in his The 40-year old Virgin, displaying the same naivety when it came to sex talk, although he didn't quite stick to the same slapstick routines as that character. There were moments of real pathos whenever Cal and his wife attempted to reconnect, and it showed a real heart beneath the comedic theme of the movie.

This was the first film I'd seen Ryan Gosling in, and he was really charismatic and mysterious as Jacob, so I could see why the women would flock to him when he turned on his charm, although I'm not entirely convinced by all of the advice he imparted onto Cal.

There were some funny moments, such as the scenes with the erratic Marisa Tomei, which I won't go into for fear of spoiling moments, as there were some rather surprising twists in the film which is unusual for a movie of this genre. It managed to strike the right balance between drama and comedy, and made me care for all of the characters involved and their various sub-plots.

I would recommend this film to anyone who fancied a 'date night' movie as it would appeal to both men and women since the narrative focuses on multiple characters storylines. I would happily watch it again and check out other films by the same director, or featuring the same cast members, especially Emma Stone, who is my new Hollywood crush.